Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming said Tuesday that Beijing supports a possible trilateral summit with South Korea and Japan. “We have continued to say so, and we will cooperate with South Korea’s efforts. South Korea is making a lot of efforts right now, and we hope that these efforts will lead to a good result,” the ambassador said. Xing’s remarks came during a meeting with the South Korean ruling People Power Party’s chair Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who was the first to su

Ex-chief of war crimes court explains why pursuing North Korean leader is harder

South Korea opened an annual meeting of its top envoys abroad Monday with a focus on ways for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's "global pivotal state" vision and drive to expand the country's exports. It marks the first time for them to hold an in-person group meeting in Seoul since late 2018. A total of 166 ambassadors, consul generals, and other heads of diplomatic missions in foreign countries are joining the five-day gathering. The event took place online in recent years

South Koreans charged with spying for North Korea met secretly with North Korean agents in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, according to Seoul prosecutors. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office wrote in an indictment released late Thursday that the head of the alleged spy ring, a 60-year-old identified only by his surname of Hwang, made overseas trips to communicate with North Korean agents in person. In March 2016, in one of the earliest of such encounters, Hwang sta

Three of former President Moon Jae-in’s key security officials stood trial on Friday for their alleged roles in the cover-up of North Korea’s killing of the South Korean official Lee Dae-jun at sea in September 2020. The three accused in the case are Moon’s Cheong Wa Dae National Security Adviser Suh Hoon, his National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, and his Minister of National Defense Seo Wook. Seoul prosecutors believe that the Moon officials colluded to cover up

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the government will make efforts to improve child care services, as the nation is struggling to tackle the world's lowest birth rate. Han made the remarks as he visited a child care center in Seoul earlier in the day, Han's office said in a statement. "The low birth rate is based on complex causes, such as jobs, housing, education and child care, but first of all, it is important to establish a child care and care environment that young

North Korean defector-turned-lawmaker Rep. Ji Seong-ho is set to attend the upcoming House Democracy Partnership Summit for Democracy in Washington DC as the only South Korean lawmaker. According to Ji’s office on Wednesday, he has been invited to speak at the three-day summit program hosted by the House Democracy Partnership, a bipartisan Commission in the US House of Representatives. This is Ji’s second time attending the legislative track of the flagship summit convened by the Bid

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Thursday that a new horizon has opened in relations between South Korea and Japan thanks to last week's summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The March 16 summit significantly warmed the badly frayed relations between Seoul and Tokyo due mainly to South Korea's decision to compensate victims of Japan's wartime forced labor on its own, but the main opposition Democratic Party has strongly denounced the sum

Lee claims allegations are fabricated, lobs criticism at Yoon’s Japan deal

The issues of “comfort women” -- South Korean women and girls who were forced into Japanese military brothels -- and the disputed islets of Dokdo were not discussed at President Yoon Suk Yeol’s talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korea’s foreign minister said Tuesday. Speaking at the National Assembly foreign affairs committee’s plenary session, Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin reiterated that there was no mention of “comfort women” or Dok

The families of South Korean and Japanese victims of North Korea’s atrocities will meet in Japan next month and plan to work together to seek justice and reparations. The family of Lee Dae-jun, the South Korean government official slain by North Korean soldiers in 2020, will get together for the first time on April 8 with a support group for families of the Japanese abducted by North Korea in Tokyo, according to the Lee family’s lawyer Kim Ki-yun. Kim said in a phone call with The Ko

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday proposed a revision bill for the South Korean government to observe Dokdo Day on Oct. 25. The bill floated by Rep. Lee and nine lawmakers seeks to designate Dokdo Day as an anniversary celebrated by the Korean government. It would not be a public holiday, according to the bill. The Korean civic group Party for Tokdo Protection has celebrated Dokdo Day since Oct. 25, 2000, the centennial of Joseon King Gojong's ordinan

Philip Goldberg, US ambassador to South Korea, on Monday praised South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s efforts to restore ties with Japan. “We greatly value Korea’s commitment to promote trilateral and bilateral ties with Japan as witnessed in the ROK-Japan summit last week,” the ambassador said in the opening remarks ahead of his first meeting with the newly elected chair of the ruling People Power Party, Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon. “We admire the actions and statements th

North Korean propaganda outlet Tongil Voice on Sunday blasted South Korea’s ruling People Power Party over an elite defector-lawmaker being elected to a top leadership position in the party earlier this month. “The People Power Party appointed a runaway piece of trash to an important position as the frontman for anti-(North Korean)regime propaganda,” the North Korean outlet said in a statement. “Runaways to South Korea are trash who gave up on being humans. They betrayed

South Korea and Japan agreeing to mend ties at the Tokyo summit on Thursday does not build on what is embodied in the Kim-Obuchi declaration in 1998, according to former President Kim Dae-jung’s longtime aide Park Jie-won. Speaking to The Korea Herald on Saturday, Park said he “would not liken” the deal reached by South Korea and Japan in the recent summit to the declaration signed by South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Current South Ko